Prasanth Varma makes a smashing debut in Awe with an outstanding cast, wonderful visuals, marvelous BGM and gripping storyline. We see 6 different storylines all playing out in a restaurant: a young woman introducing her lover to her orthodox parents, a watchmanbudding male scientist encountering his female future self, a new chef trying to impress his boss by creating meals with the help of a fish (voiced by Nani) and a Bonsai tree (voiced by Ravi Teja), an egotistical magician who has to deal with a better and mysterious magical force, a tattooed drug addict who with her lover is planning to steal money from the café she works at and a depressed, suicidal woman named Kali who is planning something drastic for her birthday. Each of these storylines explore different genres and themes like comedy, sci-fi, horror, lesbianism, child abuse and time travel to name few and how these 6 stories connect together into an exhilarating climax is what you need to watch.
Prasanth uses jump cuts to quickly transition from one storyline to the other, rapidly changing genres and themes to keep the audience on their toes seamlessly. He tries to make sure the audience gets it by his extensive visuals which begins with a brilliant animation and transitions into fantastic cinematography, wonderful production and art design and crisp editing. Not once did I feel bored and was engaged throughout. Kudos to Karthik Ghattamaneni, Gowtham Neresu and the art and production department.
The music by debutant Mark K Robin is well done. With only one song, the film easily establishes the theme and characters. His BGM combines many genres, yet sound fresh and delightful. The sound production is robust in its execution.
It is to the credit of Nani that he agreed to bankroll this venture and an outstanding cast led by the female quad of Kajal Aggarwal, Eesha Rebba, Regina Cassandra and Nithya Menen who fulfilled Prasanth's vision. And Kajal gives the best performance of her life as the main character Kali especially towards the end. Eesha is charming as the village belle Radha and Regina is badass and horrifying as the tattooed drug addict Mira. Nithya is no stranger to brilliant, dynamic and versatile performances and she being my favorite actress, elevates herself in the role as a lesbian psychiatrist Krish with intelligence, humor and pathos. I can proudly say that I can never get enough of Nithya.
Murali Sharma is hilarious as the egotistical magician Yogi. Srinivas Avarasala displays another facet of his acting prowess as Shiva the scientist. Priyadarshi provides great comic relief as the cook and Nani and Ravi Teja entertain with their playful yet deep banter. Devadarshini is well cast as the future Shiva named Parvathy. Pragathi and the kid who played Moksha do a good job. Rohini and the actor who played her husband make an impact as Eesha's orthodox parents. The guys who played the thief and investor were decent.
Finally, the film belongs to the director who brings everything together into a thrilling, yet dismal climax which addresses a serious issue which I will not reveal. The storyline and screenplay are presented devoid of commercial aspects and consist of out of the box thinking, impressive staging, brilliant technical values and a passion for creating good Telugu cinema which is what Tollywood desperately needs. Go and watch Awe and let's encourage more writers and directors who share the same mentality as Prasanth and want to create great Telugu works of arts which seek to enlighten and push the envelope.
Thank you, Nani and Prasanth Varma, for making me Awestruck by Awe! Keep up the wonderful work and keep encouraging quality cinema!
Review by jsataluri from the Internet Movie Database.